Parker David Robbins (1834–1917) Inventor and public servant Parker David Robbins was born near the Chowan River in northeastern North Carolina, on July 5, 1834, and died in Duplin County, North Carolina, on November 1, 1917.

A veteran of the U.S. Navy and one of the first African Americans to serve as a postmaster in North Carolina, McLaurin served one term in the N.C. House of Representatives as Republican from New Hanover County (1872-1874).

An influential member of the North Carolina GOP during the late 1800s, Bigelow served one term as a Republican member of the N. C. House of Representatives (1881). He was one of 18 African Americans to serve in the 1881 General Assembly. A co-founder of the Yanceyville Colored Graded School, Bigelow also served for two years as Yanceyville’s postmaster, appointed to that post under the Grant administration in 1873.

Born on August 1, 1831, in Amelia County, Virginia, Wilson Carey was one of the first African Americans elected to the N. C. General Assembly under the new constitution of 1868, which granted blacks the right to vote.

A noted labor organizer and popular orator, Abbott was among the most highly regarded African American Republican politicians of the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction eras in North Carolina. He served as both a New Bern city councilman and state legislator from Craven County, and was twice a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress from the Second District of North Carolina.

One of four black congressmen elected from North Carolina’s Second District— called the “Black Second” for its black-majority population—during the late 19th century, O’Hara was easily the state’s most flamboyant and controversial black officeholder of the era. He was elected to two terms in Congress (1883–1887) despite lingering charges of bigamy and corruption, and a controversy over his actual birthplace and his claim to U.S. citizenship.

One of four African Americans elected to represent North Carolina’s Second Congressional district during the nineteenth century (1889-1893), Cheatham was later appointed by President McKinley as Recorder of Reeds for the District of Columbia, one of the highest federal offices then available to black appointees. He held the post from 1897 until 1901.

A successful attorney, White was among the most notable black Republican political leaders of his era: the last African American elected to Congress during the 19th century, and the first to serve in the 20th century. One of four black congressmen elected from North Carolina’s Second District, called the “Black Second” for its black-majority population, during and after Reconstruction, White served two terms (1897–1901). He was the only black member of the U.S. House during his two terms, and the nation’s last black congressman until 1929.